FANTASTIC FINISH! Yale Upsets Duke 2-1 In NCAA College Cup

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Laurel Karnes deflected in a Crysti Howser cross with one second left in the second half as 22nd-ranked Yale upset No. 10 Duke 2-1 in the second round of the NCAA College Cup before an enthusiastic crowd of 810 at the Soccer-Lacrosse Stadium. The Bulldogs (15-3-1) advance to the third round for the first time in school history and will play Notre Dame next weekend.

"It's unbelievable," said Yale head coach Rudy Meredith. "Our kids played really hard. I always stress to play for the full 90 minutes. I'm just happy because I get to hang with these kids for another week."

With the clock running down, Howser settled a Maggie Westfal throw in, and sent a pass to Karnes, who knocked it in from right in front of the goal, setting off a wild celebration. When order was restored, one second was put on the clock, but Duke could only muster a long shot from the midfield off the kickoff.

"Crysti has amazing composure," Karnes said. "She made a perfect pass. The goalie was out and there was no defender around me."

After a scoreless first half, Duke, a No. 3 seed in the tournament, grabbed a 1-0 lead when Darby Kroyer scored her team-leading seventh goal of the season off a scramble in front. The Bulldogs, though, answered just 1:41 later. Freshman Natasha Mann fired a hard shot from nearly 20 yards out into the lower left corner. It was her first career goal.

"I was trying to help on the attack," Mann said. "Mentally, when I get to the 18-yard area, I'm thinking to hit it. I just saw it go in to the corner of the net."

"We were fortunate to get the first goal," said Duke head coach Robbie Church. "The turning point really came when they scored right after we scored. [Yale] outworked us. They took us out of our rhythm in the first half and beat us to a few balls. In the second half we played better."

Yale had the better of the play in the first half and had several good scoring chances. Christina Huang's shot from right in front went over the crossbar with 12 minutes left, and Duke goalkeeper Allison Lipsher stopped Alicia Fujii's header with 5:10 left before the intermission.

The Bulldogs outshot the Blue Devils 5-3 in the first half and 11-9 for the game. Chloe Beizer played all 90 minutes and made three saves in goal for Yale. Lipsher finished with four saves for Duke, which ends its season with a 14-6-1 overall record.

Duke and Yale were playing for the second time this season. The Blue Devils won 1-0 on Sept. 2, the Bulldogs' first game of the season.

"This is not the first time we've played against that level of competition," Meredith said. "We knew we could play with them."

"It was a different game from the first time we played. It was more physical," Church said. "We're a possession team and in this game we just couldn't keep possession."

The Bulldogs improved to 9-0 in the friendly confines of the Soccer-Lacrosse Stadium.

"It helped us a lot to have our home crowd," said Yale captain Eleni Benson.

Notre Dame advanced to the third round with a 3-0 home victory over Michigan State. The Irish, the BIG EAST champions, are 21-2 overall and ranked fifth. The date and site of the Yale-Notre Dame game will be determined on Monday.